Tag: feet

I am really surprised by this winner. I thought for sure it would be the neck.

But I do think the psoas is pretty awesome.

The psoas is one of the most important muscles in the body. It is a deep-seated muscle that originates at the front of the lumbar, runs along the inner surface of the pelvis and over the pubis to attach to the inner surface of the femur bone at the lesser trochanter.

It is the biggest and strongest muscle of the hip flexors. It is the only muscle that bridges the torso with the legs. Psoas affects posture and helps to stabilize the spine. If it is out of balance it can contribute to low back pain and pelvic pain.

I had 120 entries for Ann’s March Madness Repeats Final Four brackets. As I mentioned above, the psoas was the yoga theme champion (which means it will be a repeated sequence during May Muscle Goodness.) The neck and feet tied for … Continue reading

As a yoga teacher I teach and practice the same sequence for a week (as many of my yoga teachers do).

The sequence I teach my students is the sequence I practice at home over the same week.

And I usually like to have a theme each week, whether it is an anatomical focus or types of poses, such as twists, low back, balancing poses, feet …

This week my focus is feet. Feet are the roots of our body.

As one of my yoga teachers says, you have to go down to go up. To me that means we have to feel strong and grounded in our feet and legs to grow in our standing poses, such as Tadasana (Mountain Pose).

We treat our feet so badly. We shove them into shoes that are too small, too narrow, too high, too flat, too pointy … We stand on them too long and not properly. We wear the wrong shoes while exercising. We wear shoes that don’t give us enough support or the right support.

On Tuesday and yesterday I took public transport to work: BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). The Bay Area’s version of a subway.

Normally I drive to a parking area close to my house and jump on a shuttle, which takes us the rest of the roughly 20 miles to work.

But the shuttle schedule recently changed, which means if I take the shuttle I don’t make my evening 5:45 and 6 p.m. yoga classes.

(I was supposed to go to yoga last night. But a last minute decision with friends at work had us having a fun night out drinking and eating, which we really needed.)

I decided to experiment this week with public transport. Besides the long ride and the crowded train where a seat isn’t available until people start offloading into the city (aka San Francisco) there are wardrobe issues.

I usually wear heels to work (yes, I know they are terrible for your feet).

In yesterday’s Saturday yoga teacher training the first half of class we worked on standing poses, which was taught by Ann.

Standing poses are structural and energetic. What happens in life if those are lacking?

We really focused on grounding our feet and legs.

You have to go down to go up. It’s true in life and in yoga. In order for the spine to go up, the feet and legs have to go down.

Tightness and weakness in our legs and feet transfer to the neck and shoulders. And where do most of us hold our stress? I know I hold mine in my neck and shoulders most certainly.

We should be constantly asking ourselves how we can move through our yoga practice and life with less effort and more ease?

Did you know that insomnia is a result of being ungrounded? Ann told us that. And I wanted to find something that said that for certain. I found information (MayoClinic Insomnia Causes) that talked about insomnia causes, which to me sound like an ungrounded person but … Continue reading

With an REI gift card I recently purchased a yoga mat bag, a special yoga/sweat towel and some new socks.

After all of these years of exercising and spinning and I hadn’t given much thought to the socks I wore. I have fun little shorty socks. But they don’t give much cushion, support or protection.

And sometimes they rub or not protect my feet so well and I end up with a slight blister or sore spot.

Almost two years ago I bought some adidas socks while at an adidas store in the city. They are decent socks.

But I wanted to look into buying some better socks. The cycle socks are pretty expensive. I looked at the running socks and they were a little more reasonable. I got a couple of REI brand pairs and two pairs of Wigwam socks.

I LOVE the Wigwam socks. They are cushioned and feel so good, whether I am spinning, walking or even just wearing my Chuck Taylors. I will definitely be buying more of these socks. Two pair are so worth the 18 bucks.

Feet are such an important part of our bodies. And we abuse them so much. I … Continue reading

Last night I slathered myself with Vick’s VapoRub. I put it on my chest, my neck, right under my nose (so I would inhale it directly) and rubbed it on my feet, as suggested by Hilda.

After she suggested that I decided to look that up as I had never heard of that before. I trust her because she is a yoga teacher. And anyone who knows anything about yoga knows about how important the feet are and the many pressure points there are as well.

It was interesting doing the full forward bend and then rising up with our knees slightly bent. It was definitely a challenge. But it was good practice, especially for me since I hyperextend so easily.

Baxter also had us do some work against the wall. I really enjoy working against the wall. I feel I can get into a pose much more deeply without feeling afraid.

Such as Downward Dog up the wall. We had the option to do one leg at a time or both up at the same time. I choose to do both. This was the closet I have gotten to a headstand or handstand. I have always been afraid to attempt either. I don’t feel like my arm or core strength are strong enough. Tonight I … Continue reading

Thank you to everyone for the awesome and great comments for the latest Comment Contest Tuesday. I really enjoyed reading them. And from what it seems you all enjoyed writing them.

I am very intrigued by the comfier yet still stylish heels that were mentioned numerous times. I plan on looking into them.

I really want to thank you all for your comments. It shows your support to Go Fit Girl!

I work hard to write intriguing stuff. And many of my posts take hours to write when you include the research I do.

I consider this blog to be “my other job,” which I don’t get paid for. Man, I wish I did.

Maybe one day my blog will get enough ad revenue that I can quit my day job and just devote myself to Go Fit Girl! But for now I will just fit it in when I can (and get up at 5 a.m. for the job that makes me the real bucks).

As I have said I love pretty shoes and shoes can really make or break an outfit. Apparently they can literally break your foot or cause other damage.

And from the photo at the right, provided by The Art and Science of Kinesiology, you can see what some of us will do to ourselves in the name of fashion.

Tonight I am having dinner with friends. I am driving to their house and then we are walking to the restaurant. So I am wearing my Mary Jane Skechers. They are comfy, great for walking and look fairly cute. These Mary Janes are close to the ones I have.

Weekends usually mean comfy shoes for me. And especially if some walking is going to be involved. Though last night I wore heels when meeting girlfriends for dinner. … Continue reading

My friend Amy recently shared this article with me. The article has pictures of various shoes and a paragraph or two explaining the issues withthe type of shoe. (Information for this post came from the above mentioned article.)

According to the article, ultra high heels can lead to ankle sprains and chronic pain. I have a pair of shoes that are 4-4 1/2 inches, pictured to the left. I usually can’t wear them too long. I do sit most of the time at work. So that helps. But forget it if I need to run or even walk quickly. Though somehow I have danced in those things. Many types of heels can also lead to blisters, swelling, bursitis, even pain in the Achilles tendon. Yuck! That doesn’t sound fun. I have definitely had blisters and swelling.